WNIR - The Old Barn

Although it was swallowed up by a sea of retail development in Cardiff’s city centre, the Wales National Ice Rink once stood as one of the most revered venues in British hockey.The WNIR witnessed many of the Devils’ greatest moments, but its demise paved the way for a new era for the club. Gone but not forgotten, the WNIR underwent many changes before it was eventually demolished.

Originally there was no plexi-glass, no hanging clock and no TV gantry. Bit by bit, however, the key features were added. The original tiled, suspended ceiling was replaced and plexi-glass was only introduced some years after Devils hit the top flight. Even the balcony by the bar was not there in the early years – it was a response to the massive growth at the club, and a legacy to the days when there was not enough room here to house those who wanted tickets.

The Devils decorated the ceiling with their championship banners and over the years the retired jerseys of the club’s biggest contributors were raised to hang above the ice.

Over the years there have also been a variety of different “noise-makers” that added to the atmosphere in the WNIR. But in the early days air horns were the thing. Allowed in buildings, even encouraged, they didn’t half make some noise! Although with players and coaches struggling to hear each other think, let alone speak, the horns were eventually silenced.

One thing that didn’t change was the ice size and the compactness of the building – each of which made the WNIR a stunning place to play and watch hockey. Whilst the big new buildings of the Superleague era brought brilliant facilities, the intimacy of this building always ensured that hockey night was full of passion.
 
The pad size ensured that games in Cardiff were lightning quick and the closeness of the crowd to the ice meant that the fans could hear the players and that the players could hear the fans. There is no game to match live ice hockey; the sound of wood on rubber, of blades cutting through ice, of bodies clashing with each other and plexi – and the WNIR captured it perfectly.

In the WNIR’s 20-year lifespan there were moments of excitement, great drama, great passion, even great disappointment, sheer class, sheer force and even sheer farce… it all happened inside.

The WNIR was a place of great sport, great intensity and great emotion. There were changes aplenty under the ice, up in the roof, down in the locker-rooms, even in the bar but throughout it all – what made it special was the people associated with the Cardiff Devils.

The WNIR was a sporting venue steeped in success and one that will always be etched in British ice hockey history.